Dynamic gaming environment

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10143925-B2
Application number	US-201615276672-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 26, 2016
Priority date	Dec 7, 2007
Publication date	Dec 4, 2018
Grant date	Dec 4, 2018

Abstract

A method and device are provided for providing a dynamic gaming environment. Physical circumstance information relating to a gaming device, such as ambient conditions or geographic location information, may be identified. A gaming application executing on the gaming device may provide or modify a gaming environment based on the identified physical circumstances information.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of presenting a game having a visual virtual environment to a user of a mobile gaming device that executes the game, comprising:
providing, at the mobile gaming device, a first set of characteristics that define the visual virtual environment, wherein each characteristic of the first set of characteristics is related to a geographic location of the mobile gaming device;
determining, by the mobile gaming device, a current geographic location of the mobile gaming device;
sensing an ambient light level with a light sensor of the mobile gaming device;
determining, by the mobile gaming device, a value for each of the first set of characteristics that define the visual virtual environment based on the current geographic location of the mobile gaming device;
generating, by the mobile gaming device, a value of a non-visual gameplay characteristic at the mobile gaming device:
wherein the non-visual gameplay characteristic is an avoidance-detection characteristic,
wherein the value of the non-visual gameplay characteristic is modified based on the sensed ambient light level, and
wherein when the value of the lighting characteristic indicates a high level of ambient light, the value of the avoidance-detection characteristic is modified to a value that indicates an increased ability of a first character of the game to detect a second character of the game; and

generating, by the mobile gaming device, the visual virtual environment by visually incorporating and simulating the determined values for each of the first set of characteristics in the visual virtual environment.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining a current geographic location of the mobile gaming device includes communicating with a global positioning system (GPS) satellite network.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining a value for each of the first set of characteristics comprises:
sending the determined current geographic location of the mobile gaming device to a server; and
receiving the at least one value from the server.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining a time of day at the determined current geographic location.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the value of the lighting characteristic is further based on the determined time of day.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first set of characteristics that define the virtual environment includes a terrain characteristic for the virtual environment.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first set of characteristics that define the virtual environment includes a weather characteristic for the virtual environment.

8. A method of presenting a game having a visual virtual environment to a user of a mobile gaming device that executes the game, comprising:
providing, at the mobile gaming device, a first set of characteristics that define the visual virtual environment, wherein each characteristic of the first set of characteristics is related to a geographic location of the mobile gaming device;
determining, by the mobile gaming device, a current geographic location of the mobile gaming device;
sensing an ambient sound level with a sound sensor of the mobile gaming device;
determining, by the mobile gaming device, a value for each of the first set of characteristics that define the visual virtual environment based on the current geographic location of the mobile gaming device;
generating, by the mobile gaming device, a value of a non-visual gameplay characteristic at the mobile gaming device:
wherein the non-visual gameplay characteristic is an avoidance-detection characteristic,
wherein the value of the non-visual gameplay characteristic is modified based on the sensed ambient sound level, and
wherein when the value of the sound characteristic indicates a high level of ambient sound, the value of the avoidance-detection characteristic is modified to a value that indicates a decreased ability of a first character of the game to detect a second character of the game; and

generating, by the mobile gaming device, the visual virtual environment by visually incorporating and simulating the determined values for each of the first set of characteristics in the visual virtual environment.

9. A method of presenting a game having a visual virtual environment to a user of a mobile gaming device that executes the game, comprising:
providing, at the mobile gaming device, a first set of characteristics that define the visual virtual environment, wherein each characteristic of the first set of characteristics is related to a geographic location of the mobile gaming device;
determining, by the mobile gaming device, a current geographic location of the mobile gaming device;
sensing an ambient sound level with a sound sensor of the mobile gaming device;
determining, by the mobile gaming device, a value for each of the first set of characteristics that define the visual virtual environment based on the current geographic location of the mobile gaming device;
generating, by the mobile gaming device, a value of a non-visual gameplay characteristic at the mobile gaming device:
wherein the non-visual gameplay characteristic is a communication-ability characteristic,
wherein the value of the non-visual gameplay characteristic is modified based on the sensed ambient sound level, and
wherein when the value of the sound characteristic indicates a high level of ambient sound, the value of the communication-ability characteristic is modified to a value that indicates a decreased ability of a first character of the game to detect a second character of the game; and

generating, by the mobile gaming device, the visual virtual environment by visually incorporating and simulating the determined values for each of the first set of characteristics in the visual virtual environment.

10. The method of claim 8 or 9 , further comprising:
determining a time of day at the determined current geographic location.

11. The method of claim 8 or 9 , wherein the determining a current geographic location of the mobile gaming device includes communicating with a global positioning system (GPS) satellite network.

12. The method of claim 8 or 9 , wherein the first set of characteristics includes a terrain characteristic for the virtual environment.

13. The method of claim 8 or 9 , wherein determining a value for each of the first set of characteristics comprises:
sending the determined current geographic location of the mobile gaming device to a server; and
receiving the at least one value from the server.

14. The method of claim 8 or 9 , wherein the first set of characteristics that define the virtual environment includes a weather characteristic for the virtual environment.

Assignees

• Sony Mobile Comm Ab
• Sony Mobile Communications Inc

Inventors

• Middleton David Desmond

Classifications

• A63F13/216

  using geographical information, e.g. location of the game device or player using GPS · CPC title

• A63F13/217

  using environment-related information, i.e. information generated otherwise than by the player, e.g. ambient temperature or humidity · CPC title

• A63F2300/8017

  Driving on land or water; Flying · CPC title

• A63F13/35

  Details of game servers · CPC title

• A63F13/92

  Video game devices specially adapted to be hand-held while playing · CPC title